Mold Question

Mold Question

I plan on consulting an expert for this question but also wanted to get opinions from BP members as well who may be mold experts themselves. I saw a house that had significant mold damage on the main level caused by sitting water in the basement. I estimated repairs that factor in the removal of the mold.

In situations like this, how can you tell that the drywall will be reusable once the mold is removed. I talked it over with someone who has done mold remediation before, and he said that in most cases the dry wall is salvagable and would assume so in this instance as well, although he hasn seen the home personally to confirm.

It would be great to hear from anyone who has been through this scenario before. Are there any signs to look for or do you just have rely on an experts opinion?

I would think every situation is different. But, I sold a house last summer with extensive mold damage throughout the attic and the mold had spread into the main bedroom ceiling drywall. We were able to salvage it easily. Painted over it after mold remediation. I do what you doing have someone see your exact situation. Look at the condition of the drywall, the stains our stains were very bad and needed killz to cover. But, the drywall was hard and flat, so it worked. btw, a mold remediation company does at least you need to make sure this is in the contract b/c they are supposed to do a subsonic type I can remember the name, I need to look at the contract we had of treatment to the house. Basically, they do an ultrasonic thing to the house that kills any mold spores. I sure someone here will have better info for you. But I hope this helps some. I can go back and look this contract up if you need it.

As someone who has done more mold remediation than I can count. I recommend in most cases replacing the drywall as that is the only way to GUARANTEE that it won come back. No matter what you are doing with this house all it takes is the right temperature and humidity if you did not kill everything. If it is surface mold only on top of the paint, which you can tell by wiping it off with a damp cloth to tell, that you can salvage; however, you cannot be 100% that it is not on the back of the drywall that is where the issues arise. Do yourself the favor and tear it out.

I never had mold come back after I did the remediation. I have however, seen where someone had gotten rid of it all only for it to return just as bad over a weekend of the right conditions.

Depending on the situation, mold remediation can cost more than replacing drywall. Besides, if you remediate, the salvage potential is still sketchy. Some drywall companies have experienced crews in removing mold infested drywall, and may include this at no additional cost to get the job. In my city, the homeowner can perform hazmat removal on his own property without needing to follow government guidelines. Typically, mold is only a problem to those easily prone to disease. It exists freely in nature, and some people can get sick while camping in damp areas, or even when the weather changes. That is why so many people move to warm climates to get healthier. Remediation is useful, I think, only when you have an occupied house or don want to do demolition. Otherwise, I would replace the drywall.

Basically, they do an ultrasonic thing to the house that kills any mold spores. Take your jewelry to a jewelry store and they will clean it with an ultrasonic cleaner. And ultrasonic cleaners are used for disaster recovery to clean up delicate objects. So, I supposed if you had a doodad that was covered in mold you could clean the mold off of it with an ultrasonic cleaner. But I skeptical ultrasonics would actually kill mold spores.

Drywall is porous. If there is mold actually growing inside the drywall, you would need to somehow fully encapsulate it to complete contain the mold. If the drywall isn physically damaged but you kill the drywall and paint over it, I suppose that encapsulated. But only until someone tries to install a new outlet.

All that, I quite skeptical of this mold remediation business in general.

Actually, the ultrasonic thing sounds much like the old cockroach and mice doodad that was supposed to chase them out of a building scam, it did not work! Come to think of it, I don see mold spores being melted or destroyed by sound waves at any frequency, maybe an LRAD, but not some low voltage ultrasonic thingy. Sounds like the ultrasonic clothes cleaning system, that didn work either.